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Sea Salt vs. Table Salt – The Truth

The other day I found myself standing in front of an array of gourmet sea salts, each packaged in a small plastic tub. The labels were in different pastel colours and the font style was kinda hip looking, if you know what I mean. Those packages were telling me that if I used sea salt, I’d be hip too, or cutting-edge, or a more “natural” cook.

Being as susceptible as the next person to advertising flattery, I picked up one, admired the pale pink crystals, and then looked at the price. It was $5.25 for about ¼ cup of salt! I could have used treatment for sticker shock.

I kept checking out salt prices. At our local bulk grocery store, I can buy table salt for $.49/lb. while sea salt is $.79/lb—1.6 times more expensive. Online, I found a Himalayan sea salt that, on sale, was $9.85 for ¼ lb. or $39.40/lb. Whew! Fan me, please!

Is this stuff worth it? Clearly, some research was in order, and I’ve spent several days online, trying to figure out what is going on. The situation is sufficiently dire that I now need treatment for investigative shock. I found manufacturers, advertisers, health advisors, and even some doctors making questionable claims and providing junk information. Ouch!

So…what’s the situation? Basically, in the nutrition battlefield, sea salt has become the white knight while table salt is the enemy. Sea salt is “organic,” “natural,” “pure” and “healthy”; table salt is “highly refined” and “heavily processed.” Everything beneficial that salt does for us, such as regulating fluid balance in the body and enhancing the taste of food, sea salt can do better. Everything bad about the overuse of salt, such as contributing to hypertension, heart disease, and strokes, has been placed at table salt’s doorstep.

Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, says that “It seems to be a rule of nutritionism that for every good nutrient, there must be a bad nutrient to serve as its foil, the latter a focus for our food fears and the former for our enthusiasms.” Yep, he sure got that right.

Certainly, it benefits advertisers to put table salt in a bad light in order to make us spend more money not only to buy sea salt but also to purchase “must-haves,” such as sea salt grinders and, if you buy the salt in blocks, specialized sea salt shavers. (I kid you not!) I suppose I should not be surprised that promoters want to mislead us.

And I’m afraid we can be easily mislead, not because we’re ignorant or stupid, but because salt has fallen under what Pollan calls the “great Conspiracy of Scientific Complexity.” In this conspiracy—contributed to by the food industry, government, nutritionists, and journalists—food has gone from something humans used to eat just for pleasure and sociability to something we can’t eat “without professional guidance because of widespread confusion about nutrients.”

I hope in this post to eliminate some of the confusion around salt so that both you and I can make reasonable decisions in the grocery store. I’ve put the information I’ve gathered in a Q&A format, following the questions I asked as I researched.

Is the source of table salt and sea salt different?

All salt, whether labelled table salt or sea salt, comes from a salted body of water—namely, an ocean or salt-water lake. Some salt makers use water or deposits from today’s oceans; others use deposits evaporated from oceans in previous geological eras.

In other words, all salt is “sea” salt.

How “natural” is sea salt vs. table salt?

Every type of salt comes from a deposit that is created when salt water evaporates. There are two ways in which this evaporation takes place.

The first type of evaporation is part of a geological process in which an ocean or salt-water lake dried up many millions of years ago and sediments were laid down. Sometimes this salt can be found on the surface of the earth, such as the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Mostly, however, these salt beds are underground, and the salt that comes from them must be mined. This type of deposit yields both table and sea salts.

The second type of evaporation is a man-made process in which manufacturers mimic nature by evaporating salt water until crystals form and then processing the salt to reach a standard of desired quality. Table salt is made this way in salt refineries; sea salt is made this way by hand and/or with some mechanization.

In other words, table salt and sea salt are created by the same methods—both of which arise from the “natural” process of evaporation.

Do table and sea salts differ in composition?

All salt deposits contain the same mixture of elements. According to Marine Science, no matter how much salt happens to be dissolved in a given drop of ocean, it is “always made up of the same types of salts and they are always in the same proportion to each other”: 85.62% sodium chloride and 14.38% other trace minerals: sulphate, magnesium, calcium, potassium, bicarbonate, bromide, borate, strontium, and fluoride (in descending order of quantity).

Sea salts retain the trace elements while table salt has been processed to remove trace elements and include additives (more on this below). Deposits of salt can also include pollutants from the air, chemicals from rain that fell on the deposits, and elements from soil surrounding the water or deposits. Both table and sea salts may require special processing to remove impurities.

In other words, sea salt and table salt share the same amount of sodium chloride, but only sea salt retains the trace elements found in saline water.

Isn’t sea salt “purer” because it doesn’t have the additives that table salt does?

This seemingly simple question turned out to be more than I bargained for. Here goes.

Under U.S. law, up to 2% of table salt can be additives. These are usually an anti-clumping agent and iodine.

Anti-clumping agent: A characteristic of all salts is that they absorb water from the surrounding environment and thus clump. Table salt manufacturers ended the clumping problem by adding an anti-caking compound, approved as non-toxic, that enables the free flow of salt. Other foods in powder form such as tea, coffee, sugar, and milk have the same problem and also use anti-clumping compounds.

Iodine: No salt, table or sea, in its natural state contains iodine. This mineral was added to salt in the early 1900s when scientists discovered that an iodine deficiency in American diets was causing thyroid goiter, a mass in the neck that could press on the trachea and esophagus. This discovery led to “iodized” table salt and a significant reduction of goiters. Subsequently, lack of iodine in pregnant women was found to cause a form of mental retardation in infants called Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD). This disorder remains a problem. According to UNICEF (2007), “over 1 billion people in the world suffer from iodine deficiency, and 38 million babies born every year are not protected from brain damage due to IDD.”

One promoter of sea salt argues that “most Americans generally get enough iodine from their diet without iodized salt; seafood and sea-vegetables, brussels sprouts, cabbage and kale for example, all contain some iodine.” This claim, I suggest, is up for debate as research on American diets shows that most people don’t eat enough fish or vegetables.

Now I get just as much buzz as the next nutritionally interested person when I think I’m getting a “pure” food. But I found myself wondering if table salt is really less “pure” than sea salt because of these additives. That led me to questions such as “What does “pure” really mean?” and “What do we want when we seek “pure” foods?” Yep, definitely more than I bargained for.

After much musing, I’ve come to the conclusion that “pure” implies a food whose essence has not been changed by processing or additives.

Another way to put this is that a food is “pure” when it has not been tampered with to the point that it has virtually become a “pseudo-food”—a conglomeration of chemicals added during processing, designed to make the product appeal to taste buds, to lower the cost of production, to preserve shelf life, and to increase nutrient value for the purposes of advertising.

For example, let’s look at the ingredient list for Christie Vegetable Thin crackers. To my way of thinking, a “pure” baked product includes basic ingredients such as flour, yeast, eggs, sugar, salt, oil, baking soda, baking powder, and other ingredients for taste and texture such as herbs, seeds, spices, extracts, coconut, chocolate, etc.

On this basis, Vegetable Thins can’t be considered “pure.” It contains 26 ingredients, many of them chemicals which don’t occur in home baking such as hydrolyzed soya and monosodium glutamate. Moreover, Christic claims that these crackers are baked with real vegetables. But is “dehydrated vegetable and seasoning blend” the same as real vegetables with their rich nutrients and fibers? Not likely.

In other words, should we consider all additives equal?In my opinion, table salt additives do not create a pseudo-food. Their purposes are to enable flow and improve health outcomes while the food value remains intact.

Is sea salt “healthier” than table salt?

Our bodies require salt. Today’s problem is that our diet usually includes far more than our daily requirement: 1,500 milligrams of sodium each day or less than 1 teaspoon, whether it is table or sea salt. Sea salt, contrary to some claims, does not contain less sodium than table salt. According to the Mayo Clinic, “By weight, sea salt and table salt contain about the same amount of sodium chloride.”

As noted above, table salt is processed to remove trace elements while sea salts, in general, leave these in. These minerals are indeed important in our diets, but in sea salt they exist in what the Mayo Clinic describes as “insignificant amounts.” Chances are you are getting the same minerals in greater quantities in the fruits and vegetables that you eat.

In other words, both sea salt and table salt are equally “healthy” when used in appropriate amounts.

So…is there a good reason to buy sea salt?

Yes, if you’re seeking the flavours, colours, and textures provided by the different sources and processing techniques of sea salt manufacturers. These qualities can make a difference. A 2005 article in Salon.com, “Worth One’s Salt,” although a little dated and not inclusive a newer sea salt brands, discusses salts and includes a taste test of different salts on a variety of foods.

Personally, I can’t see the purpose of paying a significantly higher price for sea salt for everyday use. However, I can see doing so for a very special occasion.

What about you?

After a career as a communications consultant and university instructor, Claire Harrison has turned to blogging about food and recipes for gluten-sensitive, lactose-intolerant people who must also diet for health reasons. Read her Food ReFashionista blog.

Ummm…you left out some truly valuable information. There is a difference between that white crystalized ‘sea salt’ that you buy in the grocery store and the grey, pink or brown unrefined sea salts that you can buy in health food stores (in bulk for cheap) and at those expensive salt stands at the farmers market or in gourmet shops.

The white sea salt that you buy in the grocery store is what you are referring to in your post. And I agree with your assessment of it. While it does contain traces of minerals, it is processed just like table salt is.

Unrefined sea salts, however, contain approximately 80 minerals, depending in where they were harvested. While refined sea salt contains usually around 0.01% trace minerals, it is much higher in unrefined sea salt (somewhere between 2 and 15%, depending on many factors, such as where it was harvested and how it was produced). Iodine is naturally occuring as the ocean is rich in iodine, so it doesn’t need to be artificially added in (and the iodine that is added into salt is usually synthetic, which is difficult for your body to process properly, as with any synthetic ingredient).

The minerals exist in the same balance as they do in the ocean, which is very similar to the balance of minerals that we need in our bodies. They are still moist and often clump together because they don’t contain any of those anti-clumping agent additives. They come in a variety of colors, reflective of the mineral makeup of the water where it was harvested. Unrefined sea salt is a pure, whole food. Himalyan salt and others that are mined also fall into this category (though the mining is rarely sustainable and often harmful to the local environment and the laborers, involving the use of dynamite.)

I think any article that is going to talk about salt should also examine the health benefits of unrefined sea salt, as there are many, when consumed in moderation.

carol

All true, but because we eat salt in relatively small quantities, the amount of these trace minerals is pretty insignificant (i.e., you would have to ingest a lot of sodium before you got much of the other minerals).

Lindaz51

I think the point being here that the minerals were placed with the sodium to work in synergy- in the amounts that are required for our health- I do not know the exact quantities of these various minerals we actually use and require everyday- but I suspect they are needed in very small amounts and yet perform significant, vital functions. Taking these minerals out of the salts (in order to sell them) was a disservice to our health that I think we are just not discovering.

carol

Yes, it’s best to get all the nutrients inherent in a food. My point is that we are still talking very small quantities … plus these are minerals that we get from all plant and animal foods, because they all take up the minerals from the earth, sea, or wherever grown. Seaweed is probably a better source of these minerals than salt, again, unless you are eating salt by the tablespoonful.

Anonym

A small serving of salt can actually provide quite a bit of minerals when they make up 85% of the salt because it contains nutrients which are measured in mcg and nanograms and it is actually not hard to meet the RDA with a serving or two.

Anonym

In fact, I did the research on Himalaya salt and found that a serving provides 33% of iodine and that is with only 25% of sodium if I recall correctly.

Ty

I was JUST certain I read the dumbest comments in the world not more than five minutes ago. You have taken the glory of that previous banter speaking of sea salt not being white… you have now stated the dumbest thing I have ever read.

Philip J. Mauch

The trace minerals in sea or pink salt are there in insignificant amounts. Get your minerals from meat and veggies, which contain significantly higher amounts of them than salt.

Gerome

Rachel, it seems you too left out truely valuable information. What are some of the many health benefits of sea salt? I spent a little time looking around sites like Mayo Clinic’s and could not find any reference to health benefits of any salts.

itsmeamyna

I’d like to know them too

Karielyn

If you do a google search for “health benefits of pink himalayan salt” there are numerous articles listing the health benefits, such as the one below:

Controlling the water levels within the body, regulating them for proper functioning

Promoting stable pH balance in the cells, including the brain.

Encouraging excellent blood sugar health

Aiding in reducing the common signs of aging

Promoting cellular hydroelectric energy creation

Promoting the increased absorption capacities of food elements within the intestinal tract

And that list also is exactly what table salt does for you. Amazing. Except the last three things, which are caused by the overconsumption of ANY type of salt, even himalayan salt. The only thing in table salt you really need, besides the salt itself, is iodine. (Oh wait, they don’t add iodine to Himalayan Salt. Odd that.) The other minerals are abundant in normal foods.

The only real reason people should buy these salts are for taste and texture, not health.

Karielyn

Fair enough…

But just to present both sides of the story, if you also google “dangers of iodized salt” there are many articles that describe the downsides of it.

“Table salt is created by taking natural salt (or crude oil flake leftovers) and cooking it at 1200° Fahrenheit. Once the unprocessed salt is heated up to this temperature, it starts to lose the majority of the eighty important elements that naturally occur”

The trace minerals in sea or pink salt are there in insignificant amounts. They make no difference unless you were to eat gigantic spoonfuls of salt every day. Get your minerals from meat and veggies, which contain significantly higher amounts of them than salt.

Payton Blake

cellular structure? Someone should tell them that salts form crystals, not cells.

Elayna

Wrong Richard. Wow, you may actually be heard if you did not fashion your response in such a condescending fashion. Iodine exists naturally in sea salt. If properly sourced sea salt is very beneficial to our health while table salt is exactly the contrary. I’m thinking you are frustrated by paying someone money to learn something contrary to the truth and your indebtedness has pissed you off. Part of growing up is realzing that other people have opinions different from yours and there is usually an agenda behind any source of information.

Greg_in_Ottawa

If you do a Google search for “Health Food Gimmicks” I’m pretty sure Himalayan salt would be right up there with the others.

Where does the Himalayan salt come from (out of curiosity? Is it mined?)

The original author called it Himalayan sea salt but it seems to me that there likely aren’t any oceans 5000 meters above ground and or in mountainous regions.

But hey, I hear they are selling really nice ice, from Florida. It’s supposed to grow back lost limbs and cure baldness.

SassyFrassy

“pretty sure”? So you didn’t google search it before making an uneducated comment?

Greg_in_Ottawa

No, but surely you must have?

Could you link the many hours of scientific research you took upon yourself to come to your conclusion about Himalayan salts?

We’re waiting….

Average Joe American

Football: There are salt mines all over the world–Siberia, the Himalayas, Texas… Anyone who’s actually read the article which started this thread would know where Himalayan salt comes from: ancient sea beds now raised to minable levels in the earth. I use natural, mined salt from Utah. It is beige-pink in color, contains numerous trace minerals including (yes) non-synthetic iodine, and it tastes marvelous. I buy it in quantity so I barely notice the difference in price. I do, however notice the difference in taste (since I avoid excitotoxins such as MSG my tastebuds are more sensitive than average). It would surprise me to learn that anti-clumping or -caking agents had nothing to do with this taste difference. Common table salt now tastes bitter and metallic to me.
FDA-allowed anti-caking agents used in processed table salt include: E554 sodium aluminosilicate, E555 potassium aluminium silicate, E556 calcium aluminosilicate, E559 aluminium silicate, among others.
Aluminum exposure is a well-established cause of hypertension (elevated blood pressure) in aluminum manufacturing workers. Like MSG, aluminum is also a neurotoxin. I’m not going to debate these facts with people who don’t know how to do basic critical Internet or library research (or even read the biased article this discussion is based on–yes, I too immediately noticed that the author studiously glossed over anti-caking agents). I’m just saying. People have lowered their diastolic blood pressure without drugs, merely by switching from table salt to mined, unrefined sea salt. I’m one of them.

John Bull

‘But hey, I hear they are selling really nice ice, from Florida. It’s supposed to grow back lost limbs and cure baldness.’

Can you point me in the direction of any online suppliers? Have been looking everywhere for this product!

Renee Rabbit

Do you believe EVERYTHING you read? Just because a benefit is stated
does not mean it has been tested or proven in any meaningful
way…you’re quick to deny rigorous research and gullible in believing
pseudoscience

Vaughnirv

I love the response … Detailed and concise. The sources used to compile the information in the article are suspect. It’s like going to burger king asking for nutritional guidance. You can’t ask a government focused on sick care to give you “health” guidance. They’ll offer “science” as an answer or reply. Of course nobody wants to get raped at a farmers market or health food store, but I’d rather give the $ to myself than to a white jacket md that knows everything about meds but little to nothing about healing. Thanks for staying “pure” … that’s the goal.

Cookingmachine

So, in all of this explanation and research, why is it that we are paying exponentially more for un-refined sea salt than for table salt which requires much more labor to produce than sea salt. Another big gimmick. At the end of the day, I like using sea salt because it provides my dishes a better flavor.

houzemuzik

You’re probably paying more because the UN-refined is most likely less in abundance.

Also, the minerals that are removed from the refined salt is RESOLD elsewhere! Do you not get it?
This makes refining the salt profitable for them!!!!

Besides, most, if not all processed foods (which are unhealthy for us) are cheap. That’s why whole/natural….SINGLE INGREDIENT foods are what’s best to consume!

Ty

Single ingredient? Like sodium chloride right?

azdoud

This is probably not the reason: economy works in a way where the price and the intrinsic value are different. the price of something evaluates the perceived value of something not the intrinsic one. Himalayan salt comes from the second biggest mine for salt in the world, in Pakistan. it is more than likely that this mine produces processed salt as well, and that companies working with this salt mine chose to multiply their profit by 40 by trademarking the product. I wont be surprise that this “Himalayan salt” only appeared now because it took that much time to make the FDA approve a product that literally contains rust, or that it just pop off the imagination of a marketing company.

Anton B.

Commercial refined salt is not only stripped of all its minerals, besides sodium and chloride, but it also is heated at such high temperatures that the chemical structure of salt changes. In addition, it is chemically cleaned and bleached and treated with anticaking agents which prevent salt from mixing with water in the salt container. Unfortunately the anticaking agents perform the same function in the human body, so refined salt does not dissolve and combine with the water and fluids present in our system. Instead it builds up in the body and leaves deposits in organs and tissue, causing severe health problems.

WeHaveAWinnah!

Good g-d. I’ve never seen so much BS layered into an innocent sounding paragraph. If you read this and found yourself nodding in agreement, tear up your checkbook and hold onto your wallet.

On second thought, send me that checkbook. I have a natural earth balancing reclamation process that wild detoxify the chemical inks and restore Gaia balance. I’ll need to sample your emotional energies to make it work, so please include 7 copies of your signature.

Chappy

Yeah, I know people like that… some P T Barnum want-a-be can sell anything to some people.

houzemuzik

How do you know it’s B.S?

Either way, why would anyone in their right mind want to ingest something with an “anti-caking/clumping agent” artifically added, when one can ingest an ALL NATURAL alternative? (which can still be affordable and taste just as good, if not better)

You’re probably American, no wonder you’re all friggin’ fat and unhealthy with all these ailments!
(We all know how intelligent the majority of Americans are!)

Ty

My feces is all natural. Buy it. Idiot.

http://www.saludcasera.com/ Salud Casera

So, in conclusion.

Salt with chemicals added = Better than Salt with no chemicals added?

Salt with no nutrients (according to the manufactures themselves) = Better than Salt with lots of nutrients?

Refined Salt = Better than Natural, Un-refined Salt?

Is that how you see it?

Sarah

Never mind some people; on what basis did they decide that you’re “BS” paragraph is false? I can’t say that it’s true either but, as a fourth year pharmacy student, I believe you make a very good point!

Philip J. Mauch

If you can’t say that what he said is true, then how on earth could you say with confidence that he makes a good point?

Payton Blake

Soldium and Chloride are not minerals. Sodium chloride IS a mineral though,and it’s called Halite. Halite is naturally clear/white and needs no bleaching. Table salt dissolves just fine, haven’t you ever tried dissolving some in water?

Philip J. Mauch

Please provide us with some links that provide even a shred of scientific evidence that supports your claims.

Helena Howard

well said

Ty

You may be the dumbest person in this world.

Rae

speak the truth! this bloggers research skills are lacking severely

Sarahjanes78

Thank you so much for all the research you did on this topic! I had a lot of the same questions you did. Excellent post!

Ljl0020

Something else very interesting about unrefined sea salt is that on the surface, they can contain remains of bacteria and algae which affect the color and flavor of a particular salt and may provide some interesting micronutrients. Of course, you would not use this type of salt for cooking, but rather as a tiny pinch as a garnish to add a finishing flavor or add complexity to a dish.

Lindaz51

NATURAL SEA SALT – I think you researched this subject well, but there was a few things that I would like to comment on and correct. My personal food philosophy is that natural is ALWAYS better than processed foods in any degree or manner. Sea Salt-turned to Table Salt rather mined or harvested that has been chemically bleached, chemically stripped of its minerals (to resell for more than the salt itself is worth- by the way), dried either by heat (which ruins the minerals if they are left on the crystal) or a chemical drying agent and processed anti-caking agents some of which even include Aluminum (as in found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patient’s and generally believed to be the cause of the disease) can be seen to be a much inferior product.

Natural sea salts produce a delightful pallet of flavor on the tongue by the crystal structure which is larger than refined salt, and by volume- sea salt therefore has LESS sodium per 1/4 t. serving- because the sea salt crystals or flakes take up less room on a teaspoon than highly refined tiny table salt grains.

IS SEA SALT WORTH THE MONEY? I’d have to say yes- of course- you get more flavor and crunch- both are what we love about salt… and you get less chemical processing and all the minerals that Mother Nature Intended! I’d say if we consumed a pound a day – that would be a prohibitive economic deterrent to most of us to make the switch- but… at just a teaspoon or less per day- big deal! It’s WELL WORTH the expense and anyone who has tasted the wonderful difference would agree without question. Natural, unrefined whole mineral SEA SALT is the way to go…. I enjoy a salt called TIBETAN ROSE and another one called BRITTANY GRAY- a French whole Mineral salt is wonderful and both are quite affordable for everyday cooking and use.

No, it doesn’t. It alludes to a sensitivity to aluminum for Alzheimer’s patients that is worthy of consideration. Correlation is not causality.

Dawn

Aluminum is a poison to the body in any amounts. It is not needed for any body functions whatsoever. Why argue about Alzheimer’s? The point is Aluminum is used in the process of making table salt, which is a known poison to the body. The use of so many toxic heavy metals in processed foods and medicines accumulates in the body. These substances are part of the non-biological properties of the earth and are not meant to be biologically active and yet man has made guinea pigs of a whole generation of humans by including them in our food chain. All these metals disturb and interrupt and change the biochemical processes because they bond to other normal body minerals and shift the end product that the dna mold is meant to create for healthy functioning. Whether it is heart disease, or Alzheimer’s, or MS or Crohn’s, allergies, or lupus, parkinson’s, or autism, fibromyalgia, or chronic fatigue, the list goes on – all these diseases have incorrect biochemical processes happening in organs, nerves and muscles, add cancer and you have all possible body functions.

Payton Blake

Aluminum is found in sea salts.

One thing you don’t seem to quite get though, is elements that, alone, may have ill effects, in compounds they might not. You realize that all salts are a metal plus a nonmetal, right? Sodium is a metal, and yet as part of salt, it is vital in our diets.

El Cheapo

I looked up some salt prices…
Sea salt (Redmond), $6.99/lb.
Kosher salt (Morton’s) $2.50/lb.
Table salt (IGA) $0.30 lb.
and they’re all mostly NaCl…
Score another one for American marketing!!!

Dan

You know, ANYTHING in a sufficient quantity is a poison. The motto of toxicology is “the dose makes the poison.” In a small enough dose, arsenic is completely safe and in a high enough dose, water is deadly.
I think you may have learned a little too much pseudoscience and not enough real science.

Elayna

Dan, you must be a scientist or a doctor or part of the problem…..Dawn is right in what she is saying. She is saying the overabundance (dose) of these otherwise harmless metals (aluminum) have accumulated in the human body causing epidemic levels of disease we have not experienced in the past. It is unclear what you are so angrily refuting in your statement because you TOO are right in making your statement about otherwise mundane substances in particular doses equals poison. Too bad you are insulting with helpful info. You are essentially agreeing with her adding an insult at the end??????

Dana Greene

I am aluminum sensitive. It causes inflammation and blisters for me. There is a study that says table salt causes vityleyego which I have, pardon my spelling if that word is messed up. Something about it “washing” the coating off cells and T17s “eating” them. Alzheimers has a correlation to inflammation.

Elayna

Dana, please read and research more on your aluminum sensitivity. I am not a doctor…and never want to be…lol but there is more to what is going on with you. I bet a conventional practitioner diagnosed you when he had no other answer just to give you an answer. Conventional mediciine is all symptomotology and pharmacology. Most doctor’s are perplexed when we task them with looking beneath treating the superficial symptoms. Try to find a Naturopath, Holistic, Alternative or Ayurvedic practitioner.Do some reading on your own and consider the source and motivation of what is being said.

Elayna

Mayo Clinic is in bed with the greedy pharmaceutical giants….keep reading….consider your source before citing it.

Sarah

These are not reliable sources; you want the real stuff? Go to medical databases such as MEDLINE and SCOPUS and SCIENCEDIRECT to find original articles from doctors and other experts (including how they did the experiment, conclusions, etc.). I study in the medical field, so when it comes to these debatable claims I notice a vast difference between normal websites and original databases. I suggest you take a look.

Kim

Another conventional medicine cult follower…those are not legitimate sources since research is driven by profit. The motivation to perform expensive research lies in what potential earnings may come in the form of pharmaceuticals, etc. Sorry to hear you have been mislead into believing conventional medicine practices discovered and instituted in the ’40′s will cure anything. Hospitals cause more death than any one illness. Most illness is perpetuated by the medical practices intended to heal. Very distressing. Very greedy. Very sad.

Iam

God bless you, Kim. You are one of the few awake.

Back to Lindaz51′s info: Sea salt (no additives but ‘expensive’P vs table salt (cheaper but with added silicates)… you know – that stuff that cuts the lining walls of arteries that then heal causing scar tissue.

Well that sort of explains why “salt” attributes to high blood pressure. It’s not the salt – it’s the tiny razors added to pure salt which I’m sure those FDA / politicians / conglomerates are aware of but refuse to divulge to the general public.

So, atherosclerosis (or scar tissue from lesions inside the blood vessels) can be eliminated by eating the real deal (and throw in some extra virgin coconut oil to help with the healing).

Jo Ros

coconut oil is kuku-nuts it maks every food tast like coconuti had it after ruining a few dishes i made with it i threw it to the curb

Cindi Garrett Van Kirk

I totally agree! I threw the stuff out too! I noticed that lot of junk foods (like fake chocolate) have coconut oil in them!

Jo Ros

cindi my darling i didns say i hate coconut tast actualy i love coconut fresh most are soapy tasting but one out of eight is delicious and yes one of my favorite is “almond joy ” which is 65 % coconuts only the oil is kukunuts unles you coconut flavored cake or diy chocolat with a flavor of delicious coconut but thanks for your highly interesting remark

Cindi Garrett Van Kirk

I agree! I love fresh coconut, but I don’t want my cooking oils to taste like it. It wasn’t a remark, Jo. It was just my testimony.

Jo Ros

yes i agree the first half was a testimony but i love talking to beautys like you kiss kiss

Cindi Garrett Van Kirk

I think you must have a few bats in your belfry, Jo.

Jo Ros

i am sure i dont.since i dont have as of now in my appartment any birds . also i dont think i have belfry since its the first time i heard this word . i have no clue of its meaning sorry

Cindi Garrett Van Kirk

It means the same thing as “having a screw loose”.

Jo Ros

thanks for taking the time to explain . but i will never use it , i dont like to sound silly.

SomeGuyNamedMark

Any proof of that? If that was true then people living in deserts where very fine silicate dust is constantly inhaled and eaten should have very high levels of atherosclerosis.

Elayna

TRUE STUFF!! Like the conspiracy theories of the 40′s and 50′s when our thoughtful government stopped all important stuff it was doing to add fluoride to the water in what some believed was to “dummy down the population”. You do not have to look far to see the same with iodine & additives in table salt that CAUSE artery damage. The cholesterol responds to the damaged arterial wall to repair the body (AMAZING NATURE!) and is found in higher than healthy levels in the blood. We have to look around the world- this young, arrogant country to see just how fat and unhealthy westerners (that’s us) are. Whether you subscribe to a conspiracy theory or not you do not have to look far to see our government is involved in a lot of greedy practices that do nothing to help the American health. Tobacco lobbyist of yesterday are the pharmaceutical lobbyist of today….farm corn subsisdies, GMO’s. God help us!!! Look at disease statistics and the rise in auto-immune and food allergies (50% since 1996 = GMO introduction).

Where on EARTH did you get that from, people NEED iodine, iodine deficiencies cause serious illnesses, iodine is found in certain healthy and nutritious foods such as kelp and seaweed, it’s like if you said calcium causes artery damage – just, what. Where did that come from? Did you just make it up??

I am unsure about everything else you’ve written but considering how you’ve just stated one thing that is completely wrong I don’t think I will trust anything else you’ve written.

As for fat and unhealthy..yep. Because we don’t exercise. Humans are designed for strenuous daily exercise. We need it to function properly. Mentally and physiologically. Unfortunately society doesn’t view this as that important for some reason any more.

Kelly

Salt or sodium only increases blood pressure if one is not getting enough potassium.

JonGrant

Absolutely right ! When the sodium is balanced with potassium, there are little or no blood pressure issues. And when you look at the ratio of Na and K in blood and sea water, they are only a little bit different.

Jo Ros

thats unfurtunately the truth

SomeGuyNamedMark

Great logic, anyone who you disagree with is part of a greedy conspiracy while everyone else is acting out of charity. I guess all those conventional medicine practices never stopped smallpox, tetanus, leprosy, measles, cholera, etc.

“Most illness is perpetuated by the medical practices intended to heal.”

A truly idiotic statement.

Elayna

We may have made some progress in the area of disease elimination but you do not have to look very far to see we have also created some new ones. Salmonella was created in a cow’s gut where it was unable to digest the overabundance of corn farmer’s fed to it to expedite the fattening process. We could eliminate it by changing the cow’s diet (abundant GMO corn thanks to governmental subsidies!!!) but why would we when we can add chlorine to the end product and halt the bacterial production on the assembly line and allow innocent consumers to ingest more harmful ingredients. Ingenious!!! Food allergies up 50% since 1996, auto immune disease (diabetes, Crohn’s, Grave’s, vitiligo, Addison’s, celiac, arthritis, anemia, scleroderma…etc.) suggesting environmental factors are at play since genes do not change in such a short period of time….I could go on and on. And by the way those diseases you reference are all 3rd world. We have done away with those and successfully replaced them and added many more with epidemic rates of cancer (1 in 3). Chronic disease is second cause of illness and third cause of disability….most don’t even have a proper diagnosis.You can’t be serious arguing this point with references to old school disease.

A Texas Tutor

You are in
fact correct! Medical practices DID NOT stop smallpox, measles or cholera. The implementation of standard sanitary practices did.

Please read the book “Dissolving Illusions – Desease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History”, by Suzanne Humphries, MD and Roman Bystrianyk. This is not conspiracy theory but the facts based on real data which is available to anyone who wishes to investigate the matter.

Linda Whom

Actually, recent studies are showing that people who consume more carbohydrates/sugars are more apt to have Alzheimer’s. Just read an article on that.

Kim

Consider your sources! Conventional medicine has you hoodwinked! Very narrow-minded to believe anything you read related to health & nutrition as reported by the FDA, USDA or any other government entity with an acronym. So sorry you are a sheep following the masses to slaughter. Look around…the poor health of most of the population in this greedy country cannot be likened in any other country. Greedy, profit-hungry food suppliers supported by governmental lobbyists feeding the American people pink slime (chlorine) in their burgers instead of feeding cows a non-salmonella producing diet and pure propaganda. Next time you wave the flag you should think about how very democratic we actually are- NOT!

SomeGuyNamedMark

Correct, the aluminum theory was an early one that has generally been discredited at this point with more research. It is looking more and more like a prion-like disease with misfolded proteins being responsible.

If you still believe this old theory then good luck avoiding aluminum in the first place as it is very common in the earth’s crust and in your environment.

Elayna

Believing a NGO is your first problem. Like cancer, where the GNP goes up when soomeone is diagnosed…since it is a commodity…not only did we create Alzheimer’s with many of the practices we have adopted in conventional/pharmaceuticals plus our compromised food supply (GMO’s, antibiotics & pesticides), we have no interest in finding a cure. Money is being made on looking though….we have to wake up.

Good Job

An aluminum compound isn’t the same as aluminum any more than sodium chloride is the same as sodium or any more than chloride is the same as chlorine.

Sarah

True, they aren’t the same when they’re OUTSIDE our bodies, but once they’re ingested enzymes and other chemicals are capable of breaking down what we do and don’t expect!

Payton Blake

Even inside our bodies, a compound with aluminum is not the same as aluminum on its own.

Just to clarify, you are actually saying that sea salt has less sodium by volume because less salt fits in a teaspoon. Isn’t that just using less salt?

Also, the potassium aluminum silicate used as an anti-clumping agent only breaks down into aluminum silicate in the body which, in the small amounts it is used, does not effect the body in any way. It doesn’t just turn into aluminum in the brain. Morton’s salt stopped using aluminum in 1994, so it’s not in common table salt in any other form.

Unfortunately your corrections are commonly spread around the internet on health forums and generally aren’t correct in modern iodized salt.

On the other hand, I agree that sea salt is more aesthetically pleasing, can be crunchier and have a more pleasant texture, and does have very small amounts of minerals our bodies use. For an extra $0.30 a pound it’s a price worth paying either way. Just don’t buy super expensive designer salts and you shouldn’t even notice the price.

Payton Blake

Table salt is just one kind of salt, Halite (Sodium chloride). Sea salts can contain other types of salt, such as Sylvite (Potassium chloride.) If you had a mix of Halite and Sylvite, you’d have less sodium than the same amount of plain Halite. Sylvite has the same crystal form has halite, but due to inclusions tends to be pinkish or yellow. Otherwise, they may look exactly the same (cubic). Sylvite however, tastes very bitter.

Linda Whom

actually, all sea salt is not created equal. I have bought sea salt that was saltier than table salt measure for measure. Table salt is governed by the FDA where as sea salt is not.

http://www.saludcasera.com/ Salud Casera

That’s the way he phrased it but still sea salt has less sodium than table salt.

I am still looking for a good article that talks about the whole glass thing.. got any links?

JonGrant

Most of the other 16% is water, though some of it is the other 80 (or so) other nutrients that sea water contains. Most natural sea salts are not dried as much as refined table salt.

tim simms

I think you misunderstand the chemical composition of salt. There is absolutely no water in any crystalised salt.

JonGrant

Perform a gravimetric moisture analysis of most unrefined sea salts (for instance Celtic Sea salt, perhaps one of the most popular), and you will see for yourself that it contains (on average), about 16% moisture. Most other unrefined sea salts will be similar. The only salts that will have zero or near zero moisture content will have had substantial heat drying. Most sea salts are sun dried only. Refined salts such as the ubiquitous Mortons table salt have been forcibly dried after being purified.

Rodneia Roque

you are correct JonGrant – off course sea salt contains moisture. It is at a low % comparative to the solids, but you can tell even by the texture of it, compared to table salt, that it is moist.

Rodneia Roque

Hi John, the other 16% is composed of minerals and trace minerals, around 75 of them. The 75 is not a %, it is the number of trace minerals. Hope this helps. Just trying to answer your question, so hopefully I am not coming off as a snub, that is not my intent.

John Bull

Thank you.

Ty

Salt is a chemical. You should kill yourself and make room for more others.

Nancy Oden

I want to know what those “anti-clumping agents” are. I note we carefully weren’t told in this article. What are they?

Guest

Sodium aluminosilicate, also called sodium silicoaluminate. Couldn’t figure out why my face swelled and I felt hung over after drinking powdered milk or using sea salt. This additive is apparently the culprit, but I never saw it mentioned on the labels. Google it to see what it is and products are likely to add it to prevent caking/clumping.

Moiz

I am pleased to have a wonderful piece of information through this discussion. Though i am interested to know the name of the chemical used in for bleaching Salt and its after effects as mentioned in the article??

JF-LV

My face was swollen for two years because I used Pure Sea Salt (purchased at Costco). I stopped using it and my face deflated almost overnight.

JEFF

wow i feel sorry you 2 are so uneducated. costco salt is pure himilayan which has no preservatives at all. you face got fat because you ate too much salt and you body retained water like a chick on her rag! using MORTONS OR ANY OTHER TABLE SALT does have many preservatives and thats why using that may have helped reduced the swelling due to sodium becasue REFINED TABLE SALT ISNT EVEN PURE IT HAS SUGAR IN IT ! AND MANY OTHER PRESERVATIVES

GO TO WHOLE FOODS IF YOUR SO STUPID AND CANT TRUST COSTCO
GO TO WHOLE FOODS
ITS REALLY A NICE STORE

josephflv

Wow! You told me didn’t you? For starters my face was swollen not fat. And, I would NEVER take advice from someone as rude, belligerent and nasty as you. Oh, and you don’t have to shout.

Rodneia Roque

do you mean that pure Himalayan salt from Pakistan? Yes, that is where it comes from, it has nothing to do with the Himalayan, and it has no more benefits than sea salt.
Being obnoxious and rude must do wonders for you. I am sure it always helps you to get your point across.

Katya

What do you mean? There are Himalayan mountains in Pakistan, so actually it does have everything to do with the Himalayas.

Madelene Burns

That’s not very nice Jeff. Everyone is entitled to what they believe, may not be right, but seriously, be a little more mature in how you react to people. You’re a NOT NICE PERSON!

spankee

go see a shrink becasue you are one nasty person

http://www.saludcasera.com/ Salud Casera

Commercial table salt has a number of things added to it, potassium idodide, which is “iodized salt” and anticaking agents such as tricalcium phosphate, calcium or magnesium carbonates, magnesium oxide, silicon dioxide, sodium alumino-silicate, and alumino-calcium silicate. All of these additives are approved by the FDA.

Jo Ros

fda??? f…da!!!

Elayna

Really? Are you believing if the FDA approves it therefore it is ok??? So naive, so very naive of you. The FDA is part of the problem. Do you actually believe your government cares about your iodine levels or in the case of fluoridated water…your dental health??!! Wake up. These government agencies are all in bed with each other and their greed is the reason for the disgusting state of public health. Save yourself…cause they aren’t helping you.

http://www.saludcasera.com/ Salud Casera

I believe that anything the FDA touches has the mark of the devil and will definitely poision you. I don’t see where I mention that the crap added to the salt being approved by the FDA is a good thing.

Neil Mcginnis

that is how it came across.. lol. sorry i thought thats what you were saying too

Tony Balony

No, now go fuck yourself!

Neil Mcginnis

thats mature. lol

Rodneia Roque

I didn’t see that coming across at all. All I saw was that Nancy Oden asked “what are those clumping agents” and that Salud Casera answered the question. No endorsement, simply an answer.
Kind of like, how do you get from 1 to 5? Answer: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
You may have thought that is how it came across because Elayna was quick to critizice and assume endorsement, so her response changed the tone of the original answer.

Neil Mcginnis

many things have been banned that were once approved by the FDA so that means absolutely nothing.

Payton Blake

Chemically bleached? Hardly. Halite is naturally clear (will look whitish though) when in a pure form. It does not need to be bleached to get that look.

Linda Whom

Having lived over the Morton Salt Mine in Texas I know the history of mined salt and that originally evaporation method was used by Native Americans. You wouldn’t want to eat mined salt until it was processed because it is a grey color with streaks of nearly black and brown going through. Some sea salt is chemically processed as well and one must be careful to read the labels. However, salt is salt and should be used sparingly. I hear all these people say “Sea Salt is healthy for you”, when I know that those trace minerals are hardly worth the expense especially with all the deep sea creatures showing up dead on beaches. The oil spills in oceans, the trash content in the ocean and lets not forget radioactive spillage. If you want bigger pieces of salt in your food, buy kosher pickling salt and put it in a grinder. There are far more pollutants in our oceans that 1000 ft down in the ground!

Elayna

Who cares what color it is naturally??? Yes, some sea salt IS processed so “buyer beware”. And NO you do not need to use all salt sparingly. Read about how the contents of table salt are what causes arterial damage- increased choloesterol is responding to repair the tears in the arteries caused by the processed salt. Properly sourced sea salt comes from the Dead Sea and other dried up salt water bodies that have not been subject to man’s greedy pollution of the ocean. You may want to get more info on that commercial salt mine you grew up near because you have missed with many of your points.

rfe16

So I don’t have to say much on this because Lindaz51 already said most of what I already had in mind. Table salt or “Iodized salt” is bleached, chlorinated, chemically processed, contains Aluminum, and is NOT natural! The table salt is extremely depleted of minerals beneficial to our bodies and really the only reason worth eating salt (other than to taste). Not only this but table salt is linked to all sorts of health issues. When your doctor says your blood pressure is high, lay off the salt. What he should say is, your blood pressure is high, lay off all the crap that’s in iodized salt and switch to sea salt. Actually, My doctor DID tell me to switch to sea salt! Now, sea salt is the ONLY thing i i rely on to say the word “pure” or “naturally derived” since it is impossible for any salt to be organic since it is never derived from a once-living organism. Otherwise, i look for the ‘organic seal of approval’. I disagree that it isn’t worth the price. Maybe it’s the location or where you’re shopping but I get my pink Himalayan sea salt for $5.00 for about 13 oz. (which is roughly 1 1/2 cups of salt) at the weirdest and most random places. Sometimes ross sometimes marshalls/homegoods/tjmax i don’t know about you but I cook A LOT and this salt has last me a year and it’s still not gone. I know that costco sells pink Himalayan sea salt with grinder attached because it stays fresher in the crystalized form. The best thing about this salt is that you don’t need as much because it packs a much larger punch of flavor than that of table or iodized salt. Since the switch from table to sea, I have experienced a big difference in taste AND health… and will never go back to the cheap crap. It tastes gross now. Also, anything approved by the FDA straight from the depths of hell. Everything I buy is certified organic and fresh, and unprocessed. Saying there is no difference between the two is like when they tried to say HFCS (High fructose corn syrup) was no different that regular cane sugar! This didn’t last long as the “People” had a field day with this one and quickly put an end to it. You don’t even really have to do “research” to know the difference. There IS NO comparison in taste! Sea salt is MUCH better! I urge you to at least try it one day and switch for however long the amount of salt you get lasts you and then try going back. I bet you won’t. I even carry a small jar in my purse so that when I am out and about, I don’t have to use the iodized salt at restaurants. lol (sorry, wrote more than I thought I would. lol)

http://twitter.com/adventuresgfmom Heidi Kelly

I have to buy sea salt because I’m allergic to corn and iodized salt usually contains corn in the form of dextrose. Guess it’s a good thing I don’t have a thyroid anymore. :0)

Lauren

If Michael Pollan defined nutritionalism, I would say this was “point-of-view-ism.” It’s one thing to say you don’t feel something is worth paying for. It’s another to decide something isn’t that processed. Table salad and its additives, regardless of safety, isn’t as pure as salt whose ingredients just read “salt.” While I appreciated the one-sentence mention of taste, I would’ve started with that. There isn’t a good chef or cook who uses table salt because of its inferior, chemically taste. Kosher salt, pink sea salt and many others can transform any dish. This blog generally does great work exposing hidden ingredients and promoting untampered food, this post smelled of “it’s not so bad” which is a slippery slope. We blogged about salt this week too and as you can gather have different opinions.

Lindaz51

You may want to also consider KOSHER SEA SALT- a completely different animal than regular- highly refined and treated Kosher Salt. It’s a wonderful addition to the kitchen and while relatively hard to find- you might check with SALTS OF THE 7 SEAS- I read somewhere they are bringing KOSHER SEA SALT to the market and its a wonderful idea! Try Amazon- I think they have it!

Ty

Just because you’re incorrect doesn’t make it an “opinion,” you’re just wrong.

http://www.rosaberry.com/blog Jenna

Thanks for this informative and well-researched piece! I teach cooking classes and find that people always ask me about the difference between salts. My salt choice — the one that we used in culinary school — is kosher salt. It’s cheaper than sea salt and I prefer its flavor and texture to table salt. Table salt is hard to sprinkle with your hands (important for getting the “feel” of a dish) and has a bitter quality.

Ashleysheeran829

You left out a lot of information. I must say this is the first article from fooducate that I’ve been disappointed in.

The main difference between table, kosher, and sea salts is their composition. Kosher salt and sea salt have a different texture and flavor, the reason why chefs or cooks use different salts for different purposes. I started using kosher salt in my cooking and noticed a considerable difference. Health wise, yes there is no difference.

I highly recommend watching the Good Eats episode on salt. Very informative

http://groundcherry.wordpress.com Stephanie

My major comment is that ~1,500 mg is a daily recommended maximum for most of the adult population in many countries/organizations. The minimum to maintain good health is much lower. That’s trickier to set a number on, as it depends on your activity, perspiration, kidneys, etc. The IOM set the number for minimum sodium intake at 180 mg/day, and there are non-industrial societies which consume less.

Also, unlike the other commenters, I’m in favor of iodine in my salt. Goiter is not something I am interested in acquiring, and if you live inland where your food somes from soils low in iodine, you’re at risk. Now, the arguement that you prefer the texture of sea or kosher salt is valid, as is using non-iodine salt for canning or pickling purposes. But, honestly, if you’re using enough salt that you can taste the difference between table and sea salt, you should really back off the salt.

Shemshadi

I do certainly believe Salt restriction is not prescribed for all humans equally.
Some people are sensitive to salt,even little amount of salt cause them to have health issues.But,some people with no salt restrictions,lived so long and have found not to be bothered by salt.

Shemshadi

I do certainly believe Salt restriction is not prescribed for all humans equally.
Some people are sensitive to salt,even little amount of salt cause them to have health issues.But,some people with no salt restrictions,lived so long and have found not to be bothered by salt.

Thanks for your article – a friend of mine delights in finding ways to break my belief systems. Sea Salt vs Table Salt was one of them. So I too embarked upon research. The conclusion I came to was basically as stated in your blog. Table has the trace minerals stripped and has iodine and anti-clumping additives. Sea Salt has the trace minerals and natural coloring and texture left as is. The one point my observations seem to has greater importance than most think, relates to the trace minerals. From the way most eat I woud say ANY way we can support the intake of the trace minerals COLLECTIVELY and at 1 time will only benefit our health as I don’t buy the argument we get those trace minerals from other places in the average person’s diet. That is a personal opinion and one which I doubt will ever rate a study as there would

Linda Dietz

be no profit for anyone. Also if the sea salt was obtained from ancient deposits now on the surface then the argument about polutants in the original water would also not hold true. That is not an argument just a thought. Thanks again as you saved me some research time.

http://www.exploremindworks.com Linda Dietz

I also just read thru all the comments – I epecially liked Rachaels and Lindaz51 (besides the fact her name is Linda). I really think the point about the bodily synergy of the numerous trace minerals combined with sea salt is a point overlooked by studies as from what I have read was not truly considered due to the researcher’s attention being on the way the question for the study was set up. Our body on needs small amounts of those trace minerals and perhaps the MOST important aspect of sea salt IS the fact those specific trace minerals work most effectively AND synergistically through the ingestion of sea salt. That is a personal conclusion/question that I have not found sufficient “studies” to support or refute. If anyone knows of any I would love to see them.

Stewie

body synergy? You really are a quack. Only the idiots talk about the holistic benefits of sea salt. It’s all the same stuff. Fools and money, huh?

I K Xora

Stewie
you may have mixed up the term Holistic with other terms. Peoples in the East and Ancient peoples thouughout the world including Pre Medeval /Pre “Scientific Era”/ all seem to be practicing Holistic Methods for Health.

fireweyvern91

Please, if you wish to speak on people using a phrase such as body synergy as justification for calling them a quack, please keep in mind it’s only a pair of words. The people who are speaking on synergy in the comments for this article are talking about bodily processes that are complex and more easily described as synergy. Things sometimes process more easily when attached to other things. That is more easily described at the items having synergy. For example, oxygen and hemoglobin have good synergy but carbon monoxide has better synergy with hemoglobin than oxygen. Don’t be an idiot and assume that Linda Dietz is talking on the “holistic benefits of sea salt”. She is specifically looking for scientific data to say that sea salt is better because NaCl works better with a specific element. As this has not been proven she is acting as a scientist and looking for more data. Fools and their jumping to conclusions, huh?

houzemuzik

And you really are a dumb fuck!
Who said anything about “body synergy” idiot?
She’s discussing SYNERGY! Do you even know what Synergy is?
Go back to school, moron!

Kimberly

How is a $.30 difference significantly more expensive when talking in terms of salt quantity? In my household of three active cooks, it would take us months, probably, to go through a pound of salt. So you’re talking about a savings of a couple dollars annually? For the flavor alone, sea salt is worth it. Table salt tastes like chalk to me now. It’s bizarre to argue the merits of iodized table salt based on cost savings when they’re so minimal.

Slim Pickins

I saw a blind test on TV- sorry I can’t remember who did it, so take it for what you think it is worth… Both “sea salt” and table salt were taste tested and it seems the real difference in taste was how fine or coarse the salt was. When sea salt was ground to a powder like table salt, there was no taste difference. So cooking dissolves the salt- no difference. Salting after cooking or without- the texture was what people tasted…If you want to pay the price for sea salt, so for it!

Micahsec

commercial table salt is cooked at 3000 degrees Fareinheit. This alter the molecular structure of the salt and destroys minerals. They aren’t really processed in the same way. I appreciate the other info though.

Cheers,
Mic

WeHaveAWinnah!

BS.
1. Salt does not have a molecular structure which can be altered.
2. Table salt is not “cooked at 3000 degrees”. That procedure would cost more than you pay for the salt.
3. Minerals can’t be destroyed by heat attainable in any type of food processing.

3 sentences, 3 lies. What is this guy selling?

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5KLJ47JTQKFUQSZXJZUMLSRXGE Preston

62 and on medication for hypertension, I found the article highly informative. I know there will be some that will attempt deconstruct some of the theories but I for am totally satisfied.

rtmssngr

Claire, Thank-you for your candid appraisal of this subject. One of the reasons I stopped using regular salt is because of the aluminum they add to it. There have been many studies showing the link between aluminum and Alzheimer disease. I was wondering if you ran across any of this in the information you studied.

I can tell you from my bodies experience that I retain a lot of fluid if I eat table salt. I can’t use it all! I can however eat sea salt with no fluid retention. My blood pressure is much lower on the sea salt. Every ones body is different and some may be able to tolerate the table salt. I just know what my body is telling me personally.

My husband and I have just learned (through allergy testing) that we need to be vegan and gluten free. We have been vegetarian all of our lives and vegan for most of the past 20 years. But now going GF as well…I look forward reading your articles on gluten and diet.

Hope you find joy in your day. Thanks again for the time you invested in putting this together.

table salt kills
natural untouched sea salt is even healing, and is even good for HBP !
look further then your nose is long before you try to inform other people!
look for medical reports for it.
second you doctor tells you salt is bad for HBP.. B.S. tabelsalt yes! thats killing
but that’s what the medical pill industry wants..
keep on dreaming
anton B.

biggan

Salt is still just salt NaCl, no different if it comes from water, rocks or space its still just NaCl. Also you need small amounts of salt to survive or youl get sick.

Anton B.

even the AHA stink’s… here is more info for who, who’s smart… hehe
Commercial refined salt is not only stripped of all its minerals, besides sodium and chloride, but it also is heated at such high temperatures that the chemical structure of salt changes. In addition, it is chemically cleaned and bleached and treated with anticaking agents which prevent salt from mixing with water in the salt container. Unfortunately the anticaking agents perform the same function in the human body, so refined salt does not dissolve and combine with the water and fluids present in our system. Instead it builds up in the body and leaves deposits in organs and tissue, causing severe health problems.

Glen

Sorry, but salt does not have a chemical structure. It is an ionic compound which dissociates when dissolved in water. The ionic bonds in salt crystals are extremely stable and salt does not even melt until 1474 degrees F.

Anti caking agents cannot possibly prevent salt from dissolving in water. The agent itself is not soluble but has no effect on the salt. It is not digested, but passes through the body.

Please take a chemistry class so you don’t continue to believe nonsense.

Akili Muhammad

If anticaking agents are not digested and just pass thru the body, why does the packet that comes in leather shoes, wallets and jackets say “do not eat”? The packet contains silicon dioxide and other silicates which are considered dessicants or drying agents which are now put in foods, mostly spices.

Ty

Can’t tell if you’re trolling or just rreally stupid..

biggan

Because children can get them stuck in their throat and their not dangerous at all to eat, you show your incompetence by saying those packages are dangerous. I also think you need to take some chemestry class.

And by the way, Silicon dioxide is just a rock. Quartz to be spesiffic and is wery comming in all living oranism and earth. In powder it has a special property of absorbing water.

Smush

Your inability to assemble a grammatically correct sentence and misspelling of “they’re,” “specific,” and “very” tells me that you’re a really good source for science information.

biggan

I really don’t care how i write, this is not an essay for my teacher, and people thats only nagging about my spelling tells me that my conclusion is correct and they cant find anything wrong with it, so they will find something else to nag about.

http://www.facebook.com/CoolestWmnOnDplanet Olya Szewczuk

This is a very good post – will re-post

wayne

If sea salt is 14% trace minerals and 86% sodium chloride and table salt is 98% sodium chloride and 2% filler than it is untrue to say that one receives the same amount of sodium chloride from either. Fact is 6 spoons of table salt has the same amount of sodium chloride as 7 spoons of sea salt. Couple that with the beneficial trace minerals and the better flavor sea salt is a no brainer. Besides anti-clumping agents don’t sound all that healthy.

Abdul

It seems that sea salt is better because it has trace minerals, gives good taste and cost makes you use sparingly comparitive to tabel Salt.

You stated one of the most important reasons why unrefined sea salt is waaay better. This is simply because our bodies need at least 72 trace minerals to survive and thrive. Table salt has the minerals taken out, thus leaving people with mineral deficiancy (most people don’t eat kale, and sea veggies by the way). This causes a whole host of problems starting with overeating, water retention, hyper tention, high blood pressure, heart disease, circulatory problems, kidney inefficiancy, etc…

houzemuzik

Exactly! That’s why I supplement with things like Vegegreens (which contain all the nutrients we’re SUPPOSED to consume everyday, but who eats Kale, Watercress, etc. every day?)
Plus I use things like Magnesium, Vitamin D, Glutamine, BCAA’s, Whey Isolate, Arginine and a Multivitamin!

Couple that with only low-glycemic/complex carbs, no sugar anymore, only water, black coffee or green tea, moderate fat and high protein diet.

No processed foods anymore, no bread/cereal, only home cooked fish, chicken and beef with minimal salt usage, exercise & lots of sleep!

David Cramer

I was told, and have tried it for myself, that the disolvability of table salt, due to high heat processing, in clearly inferior to sea salt. Take two glasses of filtered water and stir one spoonful of seasalt in one glass and an equal amount of table salt in the other. Stir. You will then see that the glass with sea salt is clear while the table salt is cloudy with undisolved solids at the bottom. Why? You would think the table salt, being more highly ‘purified’ or refined would be the winner. Not so. Do these same undisolved solids have a deleterious effect in our bodies? Has anyone ever done a doubleblind study to determine if one type of salt causes more hypertension than the other — and that this is connected? I have also been told that table salt has silica or glass in it which ‘scratches’ the interior walls of our blood vessels. This then attracts cholesterol to the site to facilitate healing of the scratches, which in turn reduces vessel diameter, which in turn leads to higher BP. I don’t know and have not seen cogent research to verify or dismiss these ideas. But I do not believe, seeing the cloudy table salt water, that this high temperature processed foodstuff is innocent. By rule of thumb, and just common sense, any food cooked at very high temperature is usually not so healthy for you. The temperature of the evaporation process vs. 2000 degrees in a table salt kiln? I will go with sea salt. Someone should make it with iodine, if that is possible.

jhyan

Did you weigh the salts, or measure them by volume? Because if you measured by volume you put way more table salt than sea salt into the water. of course you the table salt had more difficulty dissolving, there was more of it to dissolve!

Table salt does not have silica. It might have dextrose to aid in anti-clumping. What is dextrose? It’s just another name for glucose, the same sugar our bodies use as fuel (and the sugar our bodies transform other sugars into before using them as fuel).

Daniel B

Wow, thanks Claire. This helps confirm a recent suspicion regarding my health. Several weeks ago, I had a bit of a health scare (which I’m still not sure is resolved), but in reaction, I made some major dietary changes to basically nothing processed, very little red meat, no milk and no coffee. I’d had some bloodwork done and my sodium was a bit on the high side so I was also avoiding salts for the time being. After a couple of weeks, my lower throat started to hurt in different intensities throughout the day, usually a couple of hours after eating. In researching causes, I considered that I may not be getting any iodine. Sure enough, after several days of including it in my diet, no more thyroid pain. I still don’t know what is going on otherwise, but at least one concern is out of the way.

Shel

I love the common sense approach in this aritcle. I’m so very tired of the “hype” that goes a long with so many “new” products. I well remember the brouhaha over saccharine and aspertame. It took me a long time to realize the negative effects aspartame had on my emotions. I just couldn’t believe that something so “natural” could have the negative effects I experienced over and over. After months and months of “trials”, I was convinced that this was not my imagination in spite of what all the experts said. Of course, later, it became public that aspartame can be neurologically toxic for some of us. I’m finding the same to be true for me concerning sea salt. I don’t want it to be true, but time and time again I find that eating foods with sea salt results in a “PMS” type syndrome for me. I did not come to this conclusion rashly nor did I want to believe it. I just can’t deny the cause and effect relationship that I’ve experienced over the last couple of years. (By the way, I had a hysterectomy 20 years ago and cannot taked HRT due to cancer risks, so don’t make any connection there. I have no cyclical hormones that this could be tied to.) I try to avoid sea salt as much as possible, but it’s becoming more and more difficult as more and more restaurants and companies jump on the band wagon of sea salt’s so called health benefits. I can’t wait until others begin to complain, as they did with aspartame, and scientists and nutrionists do further research. This is no small matter for people like me and it’s frustrating and angering that we are looked at askance when we try to find answers. In the meantime, I subscribe to the old bumper sticker/poster that says, “I have PMS. Don’t give me a gun!”

roth

It may not be the Sea Salt making you have problems. But the fact that table salt is iodized which may be helping you. Which collects in the thyriod gland and helps regulate other things in your body. Look up thyroid PMS

yo’mama

Um, table salt is bleached to make it so white. Yeah, I would much rather not eat that. Not to mention the fact that natural sea salt contains valuable minerals that we don’t otherwise get in our diet. Sorry, do better research next time before writing such as asininely stupid article

Phil

The trace minerals in unrefined sea salt are so minute, especially if you limit your daily salt intake to the recommended amount, that sea salt provides inconsequential nutritional benefits, aside from the sodium chloride itself. What I would worry about in unrefined sea salt are all the toxins floating around in our oceans that remain after evaporation.

Ty

You and the other idiots that have never grabbed a warm moist fistful of crystallized chunks of salt from the rocks near the shore–salt is white.

Not scientifically ignorant

What on earth makes you think that table salt is bleached!???? Table salt, unless it has been iodised, is 100% Sodium Chloride (NaCl). Table salt is not always iodised, at least in the UK, except in some specific areas where iodine deficiency is known to be an issue, due to local water supplies, amongst other things. Derbyshire is one such place – it gave it’s name to a goitre called “Derbyshire Neck”. So – not a badly researched article at all. There is an argument for using sea salt for its texture and, perhaps, the trace elements that may still be present, but Sodium Chloride is Sodium Chloride

Payton Blake

Table salt is NOT bleached to make it white. Table salt is halite, a naturally occuring mineral which is clear/white on its own.

Jason D

Calling the trace mineral content of sea salt “insignificant amounts” is an off-the-cuff gut-feeling statement. The person at the Mayo Clinic who made that statement is probably an overworked, lightly-educated “nutritionist” who operates more on myth and belief than on hard science. Sure, our bodies require much greater levels of many of those trace minerals, but as far as absorption of and utilization of sodium chloride and electrolytes in our blood and organs those insignificant amounts are vital. Our body uses those trace minerals in other ways, when obtained via other sources. Besides, they are called TRACE minerals not because they are small or always found in small quantities, but because our bodies only need TRACE amounts for electrolytic function. We need 2.3 grams of salt per day for our heart muscle to beat properly. We need only a tenth or a hundredth of the trace minerals, in balance with salt, as well.

One way to think of it is like oil in a car. You can say that 4 quarts of oil is all you need to keep your engine running. However, there are other places in a car where oil is used that is not part of the 4 quarts. That probably isn’t the best analogy, but saying we get trace minerals in other foods is like saying we don’t need to lubricate any other part of an automobile because 4 quarts of oil is more than enough.

We need fats in order to absorb, transport and use fat soluble vitamins. We need those trace minerals WITH our salt in order to use that salt efficiently. Getting those minerals from kelp provides no benefit for the salt intake, but serves another purpose when consuming kelp.

Ty

Stop spreading your pseudo science trash. You are another idiot.

JM

I think you left out quite a bit. And if the difference is only 30 cents a pound, that doesn’t seem so significant. Table salt is stripped of all mineral content, bleached with chemicals (residue – yuck!), heated at high temps (once you’ve changed it chemically through heat, it’s no longer natural), has iodine we don’t need (as you mentioned, we DO get more than we need, especially if you ever eat out) and has anti-caking agents. That doesn’t sound very natural to me. If you want iodine, eat seaweed in some form. The more natural we eat, the better off our planet will be and the healthier our bodies will be.

J zeno

Something to consider… People generally use more salt in its refined state, and less of sea salts. I for one prefer food closerto it’s natural state. I really object to the reduction of fat (to make them more healthy-not!) and then the addition of refined salt to make the flavor improved. Eat real food in variety and moderate amounts!

Jesster

In most articles about table salt vs. sea salt, a tragic detail is very often overlooked; namely, the “anti-clumping agent”. The author asserts without any qualification that this additive is “approved as non-toxic”….which should probably be taken as a grain of salt (pun intended). Seriously though, ya know what else has once been (and mostly still is) actively approved as non-toxic by corrupt government agency puppets controlled by their corporate puppet masters? In case you don’t know of anyting, here is a brief list (100% true…look it up): DDT, Triclosan and triclocarbon (in your basic handsoap), BPA, lindane, chromium 6 (Erin brochovich anyone?..apparently a very high level of this chemical in the water supply is actually tolerated by the EPA …::sigh::). So, to summarize, this author is seriously biased and we, as a society, should at least counter this author’s bad science with healthy debate.

houzemuzik

Finally someone making the most valid point!!!!
Sure it’s non-toxic, just like Fluoride in the water to help our teeth!
Yea, right! (read up on that one for those that don’t know)

Akili Muhammad

The part that you left out was that the body is a balanced group of organs that work together in a systematic way. Just as it is impossible for someone to say that their body can work optimally after having an organ removed (gallbladder surgery), it is not possible for the body to work without the essentials of what it needs. Sodium chloride is not the balance that the body needs which produces an imbalance that may lead to high blood pressure as well as other problems. I am a traditionally trained physician who practiced, althought never completely traditionally, for 15 years and made a transition to more effective wholistic (yes I refer to it as whole not hole)! having people change their salt from white salt to sea salt has been a extremely important aspect of reversing the problems. Our bodies function much more efficient when food is left as nature (GOD) intended!! More info like this on facebook at The Ultimate Wellness Group and you can also visit http://www.bnhealthyisbnfree.com!

Unrefined Sea Salt has trace minerals such as magnesium which is what our bodies need.

Most of us are deficient in iodine, magnesium and zinc. This is why so many Americans are suffering from diabetes and other chronic disease. Most of the health problems today is due to FDA regulations. (Removing iodine from bread) is an example. Because Healthy Americans mean less profits for the Drug companies.

Stay informed and don’t fall for BS like this article. The bromide, fluoride, and chloride in table salts COMPETES with iodine and use up valuable space. Therefor expelling iodine from your body.

If Americans only knew.

Ty

Yeah and you and your ultra secret science team did the lab testing to prove all of your claims. You guys must be like ninjas with labcoats. It must be cool to be a part of the real secret truth that noone else can know except hippies and idiots.

fooducateisajoke

I agree with this comment 100% this article is a big joke

Tony

Iodide NOT Iodine is added to salt, where Iodide is an Ion and and Iodine is an element. Ingesting iodine will kill you where as iodide which cannot exist in a free state simply because it is an ion is added to salt. Iodide deficiency can cause severe illness. All you have to do is research the Internet to find that to be true. Screw sea salt which is more expensive and has the same sodium content.

Pinex

This is a good blog. Good info and generally unbiased. =)

Golden/knife

Wow! So much controversy abt salt! In my personal opinion I like better sea salt B-cuz of it’s flavor but I use both of the salts yet table salt is way cheaper than sea salt! In my opinion it all comes down on your personal preferences & if U can afford it

Mike

Every brand of sea salt I’ve ever bought in the past tastes VERY different from the table brands like Morton. Sea salt has a weaker, more pleasant taste. Those trace minerals ARE important and who is the May Clinic to say they don’t matter? In their diet here are some foods they recommend (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mayo-clinic-diet/my01646): yogurt, pasta, mayonnaise and pizza. All of this is junk food. But our polluted seas are loaded with mercury in our fish. All of this food is killer food. So what does the Mayo Clinic know about improving our health? They sure know how to recommend food that will shorten our lives. You missed the ball on your “research”.

James L.

Sorry, but you (and Mayo clinic) are wrong. Sea salt contains less sodium chloride by wt than table salt. Table salt is 98+% NaCl, and sea salt is, by your own #’s, 86%. Take it from a chemist…

Laura Alford

Sea salt makes me sick to my stomach. I have some sort of reaction to it that I don’t have when I use table salt. And yes, I can swim in salt-water pools, the ocean and eat shellfish. It’s totally bizarre.

khalid

have you ever noticed the amount of pollution we humens dump in our seas every day in the form of jndustrial,muncipal,and chemical wastes.the sea absorbs much of this waste and eventually ends up in the sea salt this is one reason why sea salts is more bitter than rock salts because rock salt was formed millions of years back when there was no such thing as pollution and nature existed in its purest form so rock salt is always much better than sea salt.

Payton Blake

The bitterness isn’t due to pollution. Salts such as Sylvite (KCl) are bitter.

Isabel Siegel

I like you. And I like this article. It’s truthful, well thought out and well researched. Keep it up, not many do.

Thickbloke (UK)

An excellent article, thank you

Graham Sutherland

You need to do more research because there are different kinds of sea salt. When sea water evaporates the different salts and minerals in it precipitate out in a specific order. Most sea salt is produced using special techniques to mostly only get the sodium chloride part of the sea water. The magnesium salts tend to make the salt somewhat bitter. So how do we know if the sea salt we are buying is mostly just the sodium chloride extracted from sea water or if it contains all the elements of the original sea water? Unless the salt comes with a table that details its chemical composition then we have no idea.

Salary and Salt

The only potato chips I eat are KETTLE SEA SALT.

It has that NON GMO label on it from the nongmoproject.org and I know they are legit since they don’t have much money and are very small in financial means but highly aware and educated on real foods to fake….. unlike those bureaucratic special interest corporate conglomorates, it actually tastes pretty good, KETTLE FOODS Inc. made in Salem Oregon says on the back package.
(watch out for Frito Lay and others, trying to use the same style lettering name)

Salt and Salary

You’ll see what I mean when you try one.
You can tell from real to fake when it comes down to taste and nutrition overall.

Dawn

Though informative, this blog post has neglected to really point to the biochemical dangers of table salts. Plus the way you casually mentioned monosodium glutamate and hydrolyzed soya and then commented that the additives make the foods ‘not likely’ to be the same as the real thing. These two additives have been found to be highly allergenic and are pointed to in numerous autoimmune diseases. The only way to properly compare table salt and sea salt is to examine the biochemical reactions they are a part of and create in the body. This article is a bit lame and misleading. People will walk away with circumstantial evidence that is just lumped together for comparison sake. There is plenty of research online concerning the biochemical processes in the body and how it reacts to different salts. I’d suggest go find yourself some better research if you want to know: Iodized, bleached table salt with unknown additives is not worth the lower cost!

Payton Blake

Table salt is not “bleached.” Halite (NaCl) is naturally clear, but will look whitish when the crystals are small.

Claire, enjoyed your blog, however you left out many valid points. I am a Himalayan salt importer and have read up and done tests on many salts. Pure sea salt needs to be mined by hand not machinery and dried in the sun not by a machine to start. When you equate this process, it costs more, not because of advertising, but simply the work that goes into it. In the Himalayas, the salt mines prohibit car driving and use of almost all machinery, to keep the pollution down,. Furthermore, the salts found in these mines are much cleaner than sea salts used today, since our waters are being polluted more and more. Traces of minerals per tests have proven that this salt is much more effective and if added with water as a sole drink, you will get the essential minerals your body needs, although I would recommend additional supplementation, example, iodine, selenium, magnesium and others.
you did not mention the anti caking agents have maltodextrose/dextrin both which derive from corn, which lead to insulin spikes/blood pressure along with the man made aluminum, which takes up much more energy for your body to get rid off. There is a huge difference in aluminum found in trace elements in salt and man made, which we know the difference from studies done on women’s breast cancer from using toxic deodorants and the x-rays that show huge clouds of heavy metal build up. I sell my salt for $3 a lb and as low as 1.55$ per large 55 lb. bag. If you feel the above is not worth to pay the extra couple cents per serving, than stick to the table salt. But you need to do more research on who runs these companies and also on eugenics. Why do you think they removed the iodine from salts again? Money and reduction in humans, This is an example in any food source consumed. I hate it when people compare water and salt, which water will be the next gold, but the majority of waters are owned by large corporations. Salt that I buy is directly bought from a small company that aquires it from the Pakistani government that do testing and accuracy and they adjust the salt in sizes that I order, coarse or finely granulated. Unless you deal with salt, you need to do further research. It is a salty business and yes you need to know who you source from. good luck http://www.divasmasas.com you can email me at info@divasmasas.com for further information. matt

Mandle

If you also don’t agree with mining and would prefer a less detrimental process sea salt would have to be the option. Also just because food standard organizations have labelled something ‘non-toxic’ doesn’t necessarily mean it is. The guidelines are not as strict as they should be, and they have gotten it wrong before.

Ken

Non-toxic usually means that, in the quantities usually found in foods, a given substance will not cause any acute or long-term health problems. Any substance can be toxic, given enough exposure to it.

Louise Peacock

An interesting article and fairly well researched.
Personally – I dispute that sea salt is “as salty” as iodized salt. We use sea salt in our house, and we have both found that it tastes less salty.

I do believe that commercially prepared foods, canned, frozen, dry are loaded with salt and a lot of other undesireable ingredients, and therefore, avoid them. When I bake I use just the smallest pinch off salt in the recipe. When I make dinners or lunches I do NOT add salt to the cooking process, leaving people to add if they wish, afterwards.

So I think that if you watch your salt intake, you will not be unduly harmed by regular salt, on the other hand, if there is a chance that it may be harmful, opt for the so-called natural salt. Why take a risk?

harmonygenie

Holly Cr*p! This discussion is a perfect example of why it’s impossible to wade through all the information and misinformation available on the internet.

Another_Pragmatist

I think this article should be taken with pinch of salt.

rox731

I’m glad that I now do not add salt to my food. I’m still interested in reading the opinions. It’s just safer for me to not add it all. Although, I’m probably getting “table salt” in my food as chefs add it to recipes.

Medichick

Besides the fact that the table salt is heated at over 1200 degrees – essentially destroying anything good in it

Ken

Good like what? Arsenic, lead, cadmium, plutonium, uranium, mercury? All those things don’t exist in table salt BECAUSE of that processing method, which is not unlike smelting metal ores. You separate the impurities and are left with a pure product. Heating the salt doesn’t alter it, or change the fact that it is still salt. It doesn’t alter the chemical bonds, it’s still NaCl.

Joe

Just to know that there is 1/3 glass and 1/3 sand in table salt is enough. I will not take the risk.

I always was a steak & patato man, with plenty of TABLE SAT on all my foods. The saltier the better.

Since I stopped using table salt rercently, I feel better. I changed my eating habits 3 years ago.

I always prefer organic foods, then natural. I try to eat foods as close to nature as possible. Not much red meat in the last couple of years.

50 pounds just melted off.

So, I conclude. Get off salt and sodium of all kinds (except sea salt), give it a week and see if you feel better.

Feel Better, Joe

PS: Kim says “but you smoke 3 packs of cigarettes a day” BS pack of 72 red a day

Charleen

oh MY MY….. AWESOME INFO FROM EVERYONE… Here is my take or my findings on table salt (grocery. store bought) vs Sea Salt (grocery. store bought) both with iodine added. After my 1st born child I noticed I had swelling in my hands, face and feet every morning and leaving after moving around about 5 to 10 mins later. This has been every morning for my life even after my 4th child was born. My first born is now 27 year old. Lots of drinking water and medications never really helped me just made me run to the toilet more and pee a lot. One day not to long ago, I decided to buy the sea salt at the grocery. store and low and below I came to notice a few days later that I didn’t wake up with the swelling in my hands, feet and face for the first few mins of the day anymore. I kind of thought it might be the sea salt but maybe not until I ate some potato chips with salt (must of been table salt) just my guess because here the swelling came right back. I really watched what salt was in my food items but I did and still use the Sea Salt and I have been without any swelling in hands, face or feet for a while now.
Everyone might be different but with me I will stick to the Sea Salt for now and maybe the rest of my life.

Joshua Manevitz

Trace minerals are by definition insignificant amounts they fit the bill exactly as our bodies need them in very small amounts , the Mayo Clinic is just plain wrong and is causing very serious harm to the public as the small amount of Minerals accumulate in the human body over time , it’s kind of like adding a few Dollars to your checking account each month versus slowly draining your checking account each month and going deeper into debt . Stick to this analogy thru thick and thin
and you will benefit immensely in all aspects of life , it’s the Tortoise Beats Haire .
My point is we need to trust good old logic , unlike the Universities who need Millions of Dollars of grants to prove what we always knew , they have an axe to grind .

Ruby Saint John

Honestly… I feel the definition and defining boundary has gotten away from us again. I definitely need to thank you and place credit where earned for keeping my attention (I’m a horrible scanner of information and just like you are about “pure foods,” I am about information and also how I obtain this information.)

The way I’ve always defined food is more on a “universal level”… of necessity. The farther away a food goes from its original state, the more “processed” it is.Literally if we look at it as… how many steps are necessary and unnecessary for the same food like to me, alfredo is simply a milk/cream + parm cheese and maybe butter. Very minimal ingredients… 3 right there and we can have a tasty pasta sauce. +MSG, + hydrogenating (for example)+ anything else done to or added to this lowers its “score…” or this is more like gold I suppose.

BACK to the *point,* right?

By this simple definition, hands down, table salt is highly processed in comparison to regular sea salt. Removal of minerals (prob necessary to clean it, even… the source needs to be of consideration), the addition of anti-caking schtuffs AND iodine sound like two steps to me that regular “sea salt” doesn’t have.

Now, taking it further to complete the logic and come “full circle,” back to where we started to “check ourselves…”

The addition of iodine to regular table salt may have fixed the appearance “thyroid goiter” throughout our population but did this actually correct the problem or… just buy us more time before more severe symptoms of “deficiency” become apparent.

One must look at our natural sources of iodine and by keeping the picture as simple as possible… one can only imagine, right? How… obtaining this iodine via our overly consumed table salt (sea salt – everything else that made it good for us) we are still omitting all of what we WOULD be eating if we corrected this rather than stuck with the short term gone long term fortification.

Was try to avoid making this longer but all that will do, if anything, is piss anyone off who actually read this… and who form the appropriate “next questions.”

So essentially we just skipped out on our lovely daily sea-weed intake for a ridiculous high dose of hypertension. Ooookay.

So, without all this wordiness… simply put, I consider this a big deal. Deficiencies developed because we have fortified our foods and have grown comfortable that we are and can be healthy off of what 30 basic “necessities.” I don’t know really, but the list that appears on the sides of cereal boxes.

If we ATE our magnesium, we’d eat greens… and iodine, sea weed is a major source. Vitamin C is so abundant that what is the POINT in less superior sources shipped across our lands (gasoline, air pollution and traffic) in plastic (PET… petroleum derived) products.Our vitamin A, D (sunshine do f**cks sake)… You cannot replace sunshine!… think about it, we drink our Vitamin D with our dairy now, but because of this… people don’t “NEED” to go outside anymore, they can get away with it a lot more now than before without the added ingredient. This leads to us now not exercising, not venturing outside anymore and… by not stimulating our pituitary glad with sunshine anymore… depression is def on the rise– amungst other things.

Ken

Kelp is the only type of edible seaweed that concentrates iodine in large quantities. Other seaweed species have lower iodine levels, but much higher salt concentrations. Seeing as how our ancient ancestors would have no way to know this, there would have to be some that consumed the low-iodine/high salt varieties and ended up with hypertension anyway, just trying to (unconsciously) ingest enough iodine. Additionally, there are a lot of other nasty effects of iodine deficiency, rather than just the “appearance”, as you call it, of goiter. Mental retardation being one of the most serious. Pregnant women who don’t intake enough iodine often have children with permanent brain damage. This a widely acknowledge medical fact and a very un-argueable reason why iodine was added to table salt.

Kass

I have recently come across a useful piece of information you should consider when comparing sea salt and table (ionized) salt. Table salt is a very processed salt, which I see you mentioned, but what you failed to mention was what this processing entails. During the processing of salt large amounts of sand, what you would call an unintentional additive, accumulates in the salt. Too much salt doesn’t exist in the body because our bodies use salt for practically every electrical conduction/impulse. Any person with a little chemistry/physiological background can conclude salt’s importance! Anyway, back to the subject at hand, this larger amount of sand found in table salt (sea salt contains a smaller amount, thus it is healthier) rubs against bodily veins and/or arteries resulting in internal bleeding (leading to many health issues). Ultimately, I predict this is why the notion “too much salt is bad for you” even came to exist. So, in conclusion, less processed is, once again, the better choice! When I read about the internal bleeding, I have to admit, I was rather surprised, but the high sand contents in iodized salts makes such an occurrence more than possible. Therefore, you should go with sea salt! Yes, it may also have sand contents in it, but in comparison with table salt, the amount in sea salt in negligible.

Kass

I have recently come across a useful piece of information you should consider when comparing sea salt and table (ionized) salt. Table salt is a very processed salt, which I see you mentioned, but what you failed to mention was what this processing entails. During the processing of salt large amounts of sand, what you would call an unintentional additive, accumulates in the salt. Too much salt doesn’t exist in the body because our bodies use salt for practically every electrical conduction/impulse. Any person with a little chemistry/physiological background can conclude salt’s importance! Anyway, back to the subject at hand, this larger amount of sand found in table salt (sea salt contains a smaller amount, thus it is healthier) rubs against bodily veins and/or arteries resulting in internal bleeding (leading to many health issues). Ultimately, I predict this is why the notion “too much salt is bad for you” even came to exist. So, in conclusion, less processed is, once again, the better choice! When I read about the internal bleeding, I have to admit, I was rather surprised, but the high sand contents in iodized salts makes such an occurrence more than possible. Therefore, you should go with sea salt! Yes, it may also have sand contents in it, but in comparison with table salt, the amount in sea salt in negligible.

Frank

WTF!? Man, are you joking? Sand in the arteries?! If you believe this, then I have a chunk of Space Salt to sell you. I got it from Elon Musk’s personal stash. He mined it from an asteroid. It’s 100% pure and it makes you super intelligent. Just reply here to get a pound of the stuff for a mere 100000dollars.

Ken

That claim is entirely based upon the idea that sillicates (calcium silicate is a very common additive to table salt) are absorbed by the body and travel around the blood vessels in a solid state. This is a ridiculous assertion.

Silicon is the 2nd most common element on earth. It is literally everywhere we walk, as most dirt contains some silicon. Additionally, it is an element that may have an important role in bone formation. Read the following: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2658806/
According to that article, you’d do more damage to yourself inhaling a lungful of dust than eating it.

Not to mention, sea salts are far more likely to have hidden toxins in them than table salt. Arsenic can be found in sea salts, as well as lead, plutonium, mercury, and lot of other heavy/radioactive metals. Now, while these elements are present in sea salts in extremely small amounts (most less than 1 ppm), do you really want to be ingesting these often bio-accumulative toxic elements in any quantity in the first place? At least I know what’s in my table salt. Ingredient list: Salt, Calcium Silicate, Potassium Iodide. Three ingredients. Also, 1/4 teaspoon of that salt contains 60% of my daily recommended intake of iodide. My thyroid thanks you, table salt.

Pau Jos

I have found this discussion forum very entertaining. From time to time, I go through the dilemma of what kind of salt to buy, so during research found this article. I agree that the amount of salt we take in is so minimal, that I resigned to just buying table salt again. I have tried sea salt, Himalayan salt. I took Chemistry, Biology, Nutrition, and find it all interesting. Over 40 years ago they used iodine in our bread, but now they use bromine. There have been studies showing that we need more iodine. I have taken kelp as an iodine source. But, in the end, I think I’ll stick to my iodized table salt. If you look at the Recommended intake at 1500 mg, and the Tolerable intake at 2300 mg, it’s 3/4 tsp to 1 tsp. It’s not enough for me to get too involved in. I have bigger fish to fry…

SassyFrassy

The one of the things you failed to mention is that table salt contains dextrose, while sea salt does not. In other words, table salt contains sugar, while sea salt does not.

Stephanie

You mentioned pink salt, but you have no information about it in your article. I know the main subject was table salt vs sea salt, but Himalayan salt, although pricey is very beneficial to your body. I wish you would have highlighted that a little more I’m your article. Haven’t you noticed that anything actually good for you is priced much higher?
Interesting read though.

R. Stallmann

The real problem is not “nutritionism,” as the anti-intellectual non-scientist Pollan calls it, but scientific illiteracy. Sea salt and “table” salt are both just sodium chloride crystals, for goodness’ sake. How can one be more “processed” or less “natural” than the other? As for the comment below by Lindaz51, that natural is ALWAYS better, help yourself to some all-natural arsenic deposits or some all-natural hemlock (it’s a plant in the celery family). This is also an example of what I’d call scientific illiteracy. It props up the organic food industry and makes people tons of money, though, I must admit.

Shaun Duncan

Um… wrong. (a little) Dead Sea salt has a different amount of sodium chloride. For example, one dead sea salt product was only 2.6% sodium chloride. Not sure about himilayan. Also, the processing process for mined salt leaves it mostly sodium chloride. As for the sea salt… it tends to have a better flavor, which lets you be a bit more frugal with it. (Thus reducing sodium, if you use less). I was wondering why most products using sea salt list a lower sodium content. The question I have: Does the stronger flavor of Sea Salt let you use less?

http://www.saludcasera.com/ Salud Casera

“…food has gone from something humans used to eat just for pleasure and sociability to…”

Food is meant to give you energy and keep you alive, not to have fun and pleasure. Today we mostly eat for pleasure but in the past, traditional civilizations, would eat purely based on nutrient content and health benefits related to the food they ate.

They went through the trouble of getting specific organs and specific plants for specific conditions not because it was fun but because they needed it.

For is essential for life and that is why humans eat and not for fun.

http://www.saludcasera.com/ Salud Casera

“Iodine: No salt, table or sea, in its natural state contains iodine. ”

Redmond Real Salt also contains naturally ocurring Iodine as well and more likely all the other brands of real sea salt.

Jo Ros

there i much less expensive himalain salt too

Yehuda

Interesting, but a major point is missing here: What are “Anti-clumping agents”, or “anti-caking agents”?

Here is some info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anticaking_agent
For instance, one of the main anti-clumping agents contains silica, which is a form of sand/glass small grains. Some claim they scratch the veins and thus, cholesterol comes to fix the micro wounds, causing blood pressure and cardio vascular problems. They claim this is the reason why “salt” causes blood pressure.

Ken

Those claims would be, of course, completely without medical basis. Cholesterol doesn’t come to “fix” anything. Platelets in blood form clots to stop blood leaking from vessels. Also, the reason for high blood sodium levels raising blood pressure has nothing to do with cholesterol, or silicates. When the blood’s salt level increases, the body retains more water in order to rebalance the blood’s sodium percentage per volume until the kidneys can reduce both the excess sodium and water by flushing it out of the body in the form of urine. The increase in blood pressure comes from the increased amount of fluid being contained inside the circulatory system. This also forces the heart to work harder to move all that excess fluid around the blood vessels. Want some proof? Eat a large quantity of salty snacks and then when you feel thirsty, drink water until you aren’t thirsty, then look at the surface veins on your body. Chances are pretty good they will appear swollen. Wait about an hour, then you will have to urinate, probably a larger than usual volume.

John Bull

Has no one noticed that UK salt tends to use Sodium Ferrocyanide as an anti-caking agent. I have NEVER seen an aluminium based one in the UK. I wonder if they are prohibited?

jan

Our family has been using sea salt for over 30 years. I like that we get the trace minerals. We don’t get fancy kinds that cost a lot. We prefer sea salt to table salt and will stick with it.

Kelsey

Table salt is a petroleum product- it is NOT derived from evap.’ing sea water- that is a MYTH.
IT IS POISON! and that’s why people have health issues from it! And those ‘insignificant amounts’ of trace minerals are significant – they balance the effects of the sodium-
you are misleading people.
White salt- even if it labeled ‘natural sea salt’ (Costco or elsewere) has been processed removing the needed trace minerals, and the resulting imbalance is what causes water retention, heart and stroke and other issues…
The low-salt diets are not good – the adrenal glands need the minerals in natural salt to function properly. The “Low-sodium diet” is good – but that’s only because you’re eating the wrong salt! When I switched to pink or gray sea-salt- that still have the needed minerals in it- I stopped retaining water- I LOST weight- my adrenals came back.
Look deeper to find the real facts- don’t assume all salt is evaporated sea water-
And by no means trust the Mayo Clinic for dietary facts- they’re not about true nutrition-
BTW- Medical School curriculum’s do not even offer courses on Nutrition- remember that when you go to the Dr.-

Nicky63

Wow, for a food educator you really need to do more research before you go off on a tangent like this. Table salt is so over processed and has even been tested to contain 30% SAND or something ridiculous, let’s not even talk about the chemicals they put in (all approved by the FDA so they must be safe right??) or the heavy metals found in them. So if you’d like to eat impure food then go ahead but I think i’ll pay that little bit extra and get pure, natural food.

Brokenit

Sand does not dissolve in water and the idiot conman on the internet proclaiming that salt has 30% sand/glass in it, which, he says, cuts the inner linings of the arteries, is a complete nutter. Sand is made of the chemical element called sillica, of which glass is made of.

Eating a LITTLE sand/fine glass does no harm as people eat it anyway everyday from traces stuck on their vegetables. It CANNOT get into the arteries ! That is the most ridiculous quackery on the internet.

BUT, even then, table salt does not contain 30% sand. Dissovle salt in water and see how much silica residue you can find, which is insoluble ?

JonGrant

Actually quite a bit wrong with this article. Because refined salt contains only sodium chloride, it does nothing to maintain electrolyte balance. Natural/unrefined salt also contains the other major electrolyte, potassium. This has a role in maintaining a healthy blood pressure. Also, natural sea salt contains LESS sodium than refined table salt, and amongst other things, this means sea salt is LESS “salty” tasting than refined table salt. And of course, there are many micronutrients in unrefined salt that don’t exist in refined salt. As anyone who has tasted unrefined salt can tell you, the taste is different as well; there is less bitterness in unrefined sea salt. Most people seem to prefer the taste of unrefined salt once they’ve tried it. Another inaccuracy is that all natural, unrefined salt does contain trace amounts of iodine (and very small amount of bromine that many people are concerned about).

bobthechef

This is your definition of a well research article? Forget research, it doesn’t even stand up to reason: how can table salt, a salt which you have defined as sea salt with the trace minerals removed, contain less sodium? I think you need to take a math class, dear, because you don’t understand proportions. Then again, common sense should suffice, but apparently you haven’t any.

Second, you didn’t even mention what the additives were. These include aluminum compounds and cyanide (and I believe bleach as well which is used to whiten the table salt).

All in all, you wasted everyone’s time with this post. Try to do some real research next time instead of just blathering.

Irene

These kind of articles always end up to be eclectic and ‘neutral’ and leave you in the same predicament as before. Just buy regular table salt.

Irene

“In this conspiracy—contributed to by the food industry, government, nutritionists, and journalists—food has gone from something humans used to eat just for pleasure and sociability to something we can’t eat “without professional guidance because of widespread confusion about nutrients.”

Well, sea salt is everywhere and no one is giving us professional guidance to buy it, it’s marketing as we know backed up by paid “researchers”. Pollan is guilty of the same when he gets into his scientific claims for us to go back in time and live when food production was limited.

Also, food has not gone from something we eat for “pleasure” it’s gone from something we ate for necessity and survival. Modern technology has solved this problem. To go back in time like people in the Weston Price Foundation cult is to deny the huge step forward in progress that mankind has taken to feed all of us.

Arthur Larason

I have a few problems with this article. First off is the idea that all humans should have the same amount of salt daily. This is pure nonsense. Salt is a necessary ingredient for life. It is an electrolyte. You loose salt through a variety of reasons that must be replaced. Please don’t tell me that an old person sitting on their duff all day needs the same amount as a person working out in the hot sun. Also natural unprocessed salt is MUCH healthier than table salt. I buy “Real Salt” brand which is harvested from an old sea bed in Utah.

shioman

I lived in Japan about 20 years while they went through a major change in salt consumption and preference. I’ll tell you their story as I recall it.

About 100 years ago, the Japanese government created a salt monopoly for “national security” reasons. The monopoly put out of business all the little sea salt guys, some of which had been in business for hundreds of years. Big business being big business created a homogenous, industrial salt, but from sea water via an electrolysis type of process since Japan lacked natural salt deposits. The result was pure salt, very similar to our table salt. Over time, it became established that this pure salt was creating health issues and prompted the elimination of the salt monopoly about 15 years ago. As of about 10 years ago, there were about 700 small manufacturers of sea salt. Given the choice, people began to consume sea salt and forgo table salt. While I have not researched the data, while I was living there, the consensus was that sea salt was better for you and that even trace minerals were good for you. Ordinary people seemed to be aware that the chemical composition of sea salt with its trace amounts of minerals is similar to the salt balance in one’s body. I have not verified this, but I believe it is closer to the truth than not.

Another very interesting fact is that the size and shape of the salt crystals affect taste and are absorbed in different locations on the tongue, and I suspect how it is handled within our bodies, too. This has led to a high degree of differentiation among niche producers. The different tastes found among the “same” salt, as the article indicates, are incredible. I have personally tasted salt produced from a well drilled on a volcano through porous rock where the water is estimated to be 30,000 years old, salt from water pulled from about 1,000 feet deep in the Kuroshio Current, salt crystallized on ropes of natural fibers, salt crystallized on full moons (talk about expensive!) as well as many more traditional other methods. I can tell you that all sea salt is not created equal. Accordingly, it is a big stretch to say that table salt is equal to sea salt. Needless to say, there is only sea salt in my household.

Diego Zenizo

Just a comment:
I liked Claire’s approach to her analysis, at least I can be sure that “processed salt” being so white pure doesn’t have OTHER unwanted by-products, like a friend the other day found a dead insect on his “organic” Himalayan salt… (is this why it’s called organic?)
What about urine and feces, both animal and human? Are they easily detectable in both kinds of salt?
I ask this question because natural sea salt is usually harvested by “slaves” who sweat and do their things right over the salt ponds,,, Almost all this workers end blind and with back problems…

prtcp .

1500 mgs a day is way to low. most people need 4 to 6 grams a day. recommendations of 1500 mgs a day is based on very poor science. heart attacks and other issues INCREASE below 4 grams a day.

Cranmount

Just a caution to note that extremely low salt intakes are, like the common high salt intakes at the other extreme, associated with higher risk of heart disease.

Scott

Pure is better. We don’t get enough trace minerals in the processed food diet, so we take what we can get. Now there is a better way to get what we need. Created by NASA scientists for our military, we can now have access. It fixes our DNA. Nothing like it. Watch the videos and listen to the testimonials. Free information. This information will change your life: http://www.livewellat.blogspot.com

Science: In 2 different DNA analyses MMF Helped the body reduce Double Strand Brakes Caused By CT Scans by 58% within 60 minutes, and helped initiate total repair to baseline levels within 24 hours. (Department of Radiology, University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany) http://www.livewellat.blogspot.com

What if Head injures were no more in 4 month, What if kids didn’t catch colds anymore, what if diabetes went away, what if dementia was reversed or never even happened, what if pain in you knee, or back or migraines went away? What if you happened in 10 minutes or 2 months or 4 months, would you be interested? http://www.livewellat.blogspot.com

RuthAnn

I LOVE your page! You write just as – enthusiastically – as I do. I write Facebook posts once in a while about useless stuff (such as a missing skirt…. which I found three days later) but people say I make it entertaining. Like your page. If you can make someone literally LOL about the epic Salt Vs Salt battle currently plaguing our planet – then props to you!

Les Rogers

Excuse me, I realize this is perhaps years late, but there’s a little thing called arithmetic that catches my eye. The Mayo Clinic insists that sea salt and table salt contain the same amount of sodium by weight, yet earlier in the article scientists state that sea salt consists of 85.62% sodium chloride and 14.38% other trace minerals. So let’s just say 14% trace minerals. For table salt, stripped of those 14% minerals, to remain on par sodium-weight-wise with sea salt, must mean that there must be 14% of additives! Or, Mayo Clinic is full of ka-ka. But if Mayo Clinic is correct then it MUST come down to: Sea Salt is 85.62% sodium chloride plus 14.38% of trace minerals, whereas Table Salt is 85.62% sodium chloride plus 14.38% of additives. Well, you take your pick as to which of those sounds better.

Shauna Brastock, D.C.

Let me add a little more Lindaz is on the the right path. Salt is not white they do bleach the salt. The bleaching agent used contains aluminum. Aluminum is a heavy metal. Heavy metals are not eliminated but stored in diffetent parts of the body. the aluminium attacks the nervous system and the aluminium eats away the mylein sheath that covers the nerves. Inside the aluminium are parasites which carries viruses. Also causes an aluminium virus. Antything bleached contains aluminum. White flour sugar bread cheese white rice canned goods salt or sugar or any products containing those two items.We are being aluminium poisoned daily. Its hard to avoid but looks like you ate waking up to truth. Most people are asleep to truth. Have a gteat dsy. Dr. Brastock

Neil Mcginnis

Type of Salt Matters

Today’s table salt has practically nothing in common with natural salt. One is health damaging, and the other is healing. Natural salt is 84 percent sodium chloride, and processed salt is 98 percent. So, what comprises the rest?

The remaining 16 percent of natural salt consists of other naturally occurring minerals, including trace minerals like silicon, phosphorous and vanadium. But the remaining two percent of processed salt is comprised of man-made chemicals, such as moisture absorbents, and a little added iodine.

You might be tempted to think “salt is salt,” but even the structure of processed salt has been radically altered in the refining process. Refined salt is dried above 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, and this excessive heat alone alters the natural chemical structure of the salt. What remains after ordinary table salt is chemically “cleaned” is sodium chloride,

The processed salt is not pure sodium chloride but is only 97.5 percent sodium chloride and anticaking and flow agents are added to compromise about 2.5 percent. These are dangerous chemicals like ferrocyanide and aluminosilicate. Some European countries, where water fluoridation is not practiced, also add fluoride to table salt. In France, 35 percent of table salt sold contains either sodium fluoride or potassium fluoride and use of fluoridated salt is widespread in South America.

Salt as Nature Intended it: Himalayan Crystal Salt

The more you can move toward a diet of whole organic foods in their natural state, the healthier you’ll be—whether it’s veggies, meat, dairy products, or salt.

Given that salt is absolutely essential to good health, I recommend switching to a pure, unrefined salt. My favorite is an ancient, all-natural sea salt from the Himalayas.

Himalayan salt is very special. It is completely pure, having spent many thousands of years maturing under extreme tectonic pressure, far away from impurities, so it isn’t polluted with the heavy metals and industrial toxins of today. And it’s hand-mined, hand-washed, and minimally processed. Himalayan salt is only 85 percent sodium chloride, the remaining 15 percent contains 84 trace minerals from our prehistoric seas. These trace minerals are important for, among other things, good bone health, as explained by Dr. Robert Thompson in his book The Calcium Lie.

It’s also the most delicious salt you’ll ever find—so much so that I always caution people before they use it because once most people taste it, they have a very difficult time ever using conventional salt again. That is one of the reasons why so many gourmet chefs exclusively use this salt.

So, please, relax and salt your food to taste, provided the salt you’re using is natural and unrefined. If you are exercising heavily, or in the middle of a heat wave, you may require more salt than on a cool day when you’re relaxing. And remember, the more processed foods you consume, the higher your sodium will be, as it is hidden is just about everything that comes in a box or can. And of course, this is NOT the kind of salt your body needs.

So there you have it, the sodium myth debunked.

Guest

Wow, you are all such authorities on this subject; especially Jeff! To jump in to correct the misinformed like a know-it-all is the ultimate in rudeness. Sorry, but after reading some of these comments, I’m not sure who came across as more offensive. If you can’t make constructive comments without dissing others, keep your arrogant mouth shut…

Eloise Page

I buy French gray sea salt and Himalayan pink salt….I like it better than table salt. Also the Himalayan salt has iron…which for me I need because I am severely anemic.

Sandy

A very interesting article. However, Dr. Glidden (Dr.Glidden.com) is quite adamant about the fact that our foods are sorely deficient in minerals. He claims that the majority of North Americans are lacking in all (I think it is 70) of the minerals that should be in our foods and it is causing a plethora of diseases that can often be reversed or prevented simply by reintroducing those minerals with supplements, diet, or a dramatic change in lifestyle.

Ronald Wade Cooper

I have read and heard that Hymilayan sea salt contains 84 naturally occuring elements. How many elements are in a complete vitamin pill? 30? 40? The discolored salt crystals contain about 30 elements that you don’t want, like lead, mercury, cadmium, antimony astatine , arsenic, uranium, cesium, and the list goes on. Any health fanatic would freak out if you asked them if you could put these poisons in their food or salt. Francium, uranium, cesium, plutonium, neptunium and some of the other metals are radioactive. If you can get a more pure refined salt, I think it would be worth it, just check the anti-caking agent for aluminium or cyanide agents.

Madelene Burns

Regardless of whether sea salt is better than iodized table salt or vise versa, people are going to use what they prefer. No need to be nasty to one another for their opinions and views. I personally prefer sea salt over table salt because I do believe that the health benefits are better, but that is MY OPINION and may not be anothers, I will not bash someone because of it. So, you bashers out there…..SHHHHHH…Weren’t you taught…if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all…Geez.

spankee

I have a good one, dont use salt as everything we eat seems to have plenty in it already……….

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